Surface cleaning apparatus, such as pressure washers, are useful for cleaning a variety of objects. Such devices require a clean supply of water for proper operation, but create wastewater by entraining solids from the cleaned surface into the used source water. Although there are many types of pressure washing systems, a typical system utilizes an engine that powers a pump. The inlet side of the pump is connected to a low pressure water source such as a tank or a municipal water supply, while the high pressure side of the pump is connected to a high pressure hose and wand for controlling the flow of high pressure water generated by the pump. The high pressure water is directed at a surface to dislodge dirt, paint and the like, and the water is generally allowed to drain into the storm sewer.
Ultra-high pressure washers, supplying more than 25,000 P.S.I. are also known. These systems include a large engine, typically diesel, which operates a large multi-cylinder pump to generate high volumes of water at ultra-high pressures. The ultra-high pressure water is directed through piping and/or hoses to various types of blast heads suitable for controlling the flow and direction of the ultra-high pressure water. One particular use for ultra-high pressure water devices is the removal of stripes or other markings from road surfaces. When polymers such as paint or plastic are used for roadway marking, the surface of the pavement is penetrated from ⅛-⅜ inch; whereby water blasting is the only known method of removing the stripe material from below the surface without removing a portion of the roadway surface. Ultra-high pressure water washers are also utilized for removing paint from ships, cleaning industrial facilities, removing graffiti, removing rubber from aircraft runways and demolition.
One problem associated with both low and ultra-high pressure water cleaning equipment is maintaining an adequate supply of clean water for continuous operation of the system. Dirty or contaminated water causes numerous problems with water cleaning equipment such as excessive pump wear, clogged filters, nozzles, screens and the like. Because cleaning often needs to take place away from municipal water supplies, water is often transported to the cleaning site. Because the water cleaning equipment requires large volumes of water to be effective, additional equipment is needed to haul in tanks of water. Alternatively, cleaning must be stopped so that additional water may be obtained.
The problem of hauling sufficient water to a job site with the truck is exacerbated by the vacuum tanks used to recover the water and debris. The vacuum tanks are large, and therefore must be made incredibly strong to stand up to the vacuum pressure applied over the large internal surface area. The required strength adds significant weight to the assembly, and thus to the vehicle carrying the tank, reducing the amount of clean water than can be carried by the same vehicle for blasting the surface.
Therefore, what is needed in the art is a system for recovering water and debris from a waterblasting or water demolition project that does not require a vacuum tank to retain all of the water and debris collected from the blast head. The system should utilize vacuum for recovery of the water and debris, which can then be pumped to an open top tank for dewatering or disposal. The debris tank should double as a fresh water tank whereby the clean and dirty water are maintained separately. The tank should also be equipped with a filter bag for dewatering the debris from the dirty water for improved disposal of the waste. The recovery system should be compact for mounting on various types of vehicles, trailer and skids.